Despumate

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To skim the froth or other impurities from a liquid, to clarify, purify. transitive
  2. 2
    To throw off impurities in spume; to work off in foam or scum; to foam. intransitive
  3. 3
    To throw off as foam, froth. transitive

Etymology

First attested in 1651; borrowed from Latin dēspūmātus, perfect passive participle of dēspūmō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- + spūmō (“to foam, froth”), spūma (“foam, froth, scum”) + -ō. Doublet of despume.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.